However, he was found guilty by the court on Wednesday, February 6, for organising a meeting of a banned group.

The Danish foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, called on Moscow to respect religious freedom and criticised it for classifying Jehovah’s Witnesses as a terrorist group.

It was reported that “more than 100 criminal cases have been opened against Jehovah’s Witnesses, with another 24 people in prison awaiting or on trial and a similar number under house arrest. Some of their publications are on a list of banned literature.”

Yaroslav Sivulsky who is a representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, claimed the verdict evoked the atheist Soviet.

He said: “In essence we have returned to Soviet times. It’s sad that in the 21st century people are being jailed for holding what the authorities believe to be the wrong beliefs."

The report said a lawsuit has been filed with Russia’s Supreme Court to declare the national headquarters of the country's Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist organization but that there was no date for legal action.